Holy $%*!.
I just priced some puina aquamax 500 $35 a bag, I was gonna run 3 feeders twice a day for maybe 20-30 seconds whats that add up too a month? And what is a good cheap alternative i need something cheaper i think. Man thats got to over $100 a month maybe more. Whats you guys expenses on 3 feeders feeding in the morning in evening, how much feed you going through a month.
Welcome to life too far from an Aquamax plant. With lower shipping costs, some PMs are paying $10 less than me and thee.
Get to know your local feed mill's Purina Representative. Ours supplied us with enough $8/bag coupons to cover about 80 of my feeding this year.
There is cheaper food out there, but I've noticed that the fish don't grow near as fast on the other, cheaper stuff. You definately get what you pay for in food. If your BG are 6" or bigger, you should be fine feeding the AquaMax 600. I'm feeding 2x/day right now, the fish don't seem interested in feeding at noon. Using an ADF75, I have the fan set on high, and feed timer set for 2 seconds for the AquaMax 500 with a 7/8" dia restrictor plate. When using 600, I remove the restrictor plate and drop the feed time to 1 sec with the fan still on high. There is still food floating after the fish have had their fill, and like I said in the other thread, a bag lasts a month in 1 feeder.
You don't need to run for more than six seconds unless you buy a defective feeder that doesn't throw properly; any normally-operating feeder will throw a lot of food in six seconds.
As noted by others, you get what you pay for; it's easy to gloss over that and not fully believe it, but your fish growth could vary drastically from Aquamax to an inferior food. Think of it as trying to grow cattle on good hay versus feeding them cardboard. They don't get much nutritional value from the cardboard, so they don't get as fat.
I would suggest as a cost-saving alternative to just feed less, rather than compromising on food quality. I'd venture you'll get more growth from Aquamax once a day, or maybe twice a day for four seconds (plenty if your bluegill aren't overpopulated and you forget about the catfish), than you would from a cheap food twice a day. Just my $.02. Also keep in mind bluegill stop feeding on pellet food around 54 degrees for water temp, so you will have at least four months or so in the winter when you're not feeding at all.
Next thing on my feeders, Ive been researching them. Ive found the high dollar ones seem to all have a mechanical door to keep the food in or let it out. On the cheaper ones like the moultrie's im looking into they dont have a door or atleast they dont mention it. So what gets the food out when it kicks on or keeps the food in when its off?
Most cheap feeders are hanging and attempt to throw all the food out the chute. The fact they are hanging menas more difficult for critter to put paws or climb into the opening. Food rest in hopper and comes down to spin plate when vibrated by the spinner.
For what it's worth, I'm about as broke as they come right now, but I won't be buying any more cheap feeders.
The Sweeney and TH feeders just have a better design, completely apart from throwing the food better, being more reliable, etc. The control box is located inside the hopper so it's impossible for varmints to get to, especially if the lid, which is metal, is locked, which is of course not an option with a plastic barrel (the more expensive Aquapros also have this design, though they still have the problem of not throwing the food well). Whereas the cheap feeders, in a brilliant stroke of inspiration unrivaled in the history of modern machinery, have the control box below the hopper, or in other words closer to the ground - and thus varmints - than anything else on the feeder.
I had one of the $67 Moultries mounted on a floating wooden raft on a two-acre pond, angled such that about half the food went to the bluegill in the pond, and the other half went into a 4X3X2 PVC cage anchored to the dock, which currently has 150 coppernose bluegill 3-5" that I'm keeping caged until they get big enough to ID for sex, at which point the males are going into a 1.5 acre pond which just today got stocked with 200 grass shrimp and will soon be stocked with a few pounds of FHM. So a couple days ago I dropped the wing nut that keeps the plastic cover on the control box, into the pond; I went to Lowe's the next day to get another one, but by the time I got back out to the pond the cover was already nowhere to be found, and something had knocked the wires loose and chewed on one of them.
So I hooked the wires back up and it worked. I went to Lowe's and got some hardware cloth and put a makeshift but imperfect screen across 90% of the raft, and wrapped fence wire around the feeder mount poking out, hoping that would deter the critters until I could get a new control box cover. So today I got out there and the wires were knocked off the posts again, and had been gnawed further, and the feeder would come on but no food whatsoever was thrown. I've had the feeder a little over a month and it's ruined, simply because of an asinine design, whereas if I had gotten a feeder with the control box inside the hopper all would be well.
Walt:
I feel your pain. I played with the cheaper feeders (directional ones tho) for 2 years before I broke down and bought 2 ADF75's. They've worked very well for me, no timer problems. With the fan set on high, the first pellets hit the water about 6' from the feeder that is closest to the water. That one is set at the edge of the pier, about 18" above the water level. It's throwing AquaMax600 sized pellets. It'll throw the pellets out about 40' with a max width at the furthest point of roughly 15'. The other one that I have at the pond at the house is currently feeding Aquamax 500, and it throws about the same max distance,about 5' more in width and the first pellets hit the water about 3' from the feeder. That feeder is set on a platform that's roughly 6' above current water level.
I finally gave up on the less expensive ones because once I finally figured out a way to keep 99% of the 'coons from damaging it, I couldn't get 1/8" sized pellets and it wouldn't feed 1/4" sized pellets, they bridged across the opening at the bottom of the hopper.
Hum?
Well atleast my will be mounted solid out in the water on a tripod or post of some kind so i shouldnt have a problem with varmits or feed not making to the water. Now im just hoping the feed will come out. Hopefully somemore guys will chime in on there experience with moultrie im going with their directional feeder $69. I have moultrie game cameras and scent dispensers and theyve always worked great as far as the timers and settings.
See if you can contact someone at Moultrie and ask them what size food the feeder was designed to throw. IIRC, AquaMax 600 is 1/4", 500 is either 1/8" or 3/16".
BGK, let us know if you place that order being a moultrie dealer I sell all their products. lately here is cameras i sold over 20 I40 cameras in the last few weeks.
The feeder has held up well for a cheap feeder. I got em for $65 Pb users- $61. I do not advertise those because if there are issues pain to hear about it for my $8 profit margin.
Are these the ones you have??
http://www.amazon.com/Moultrie%C2%AE-gal...52699820&sr=8-2If so i need 3 of them. Do they look exactly like the picture or is that just a generic image. Also i need the 3 6volt panels and batteries can you get those or suggest a good cheap spot. And what am i looking at for shipping to Worden Il 62097
That is it, they all look like that. Yes the 6 volt recahrgeable batteries are $9.50.
http://www.moultriefeeders.com/productdetail.aspx?id=mfh-srb6http://www.moultriefeeders.com/productdetail.aspx?id=mfh-dspWe got em for $20. Think of all the money you save and you supported a Pond Boss contirubor at the sametime. Please email us so I can respond with your shipping cost.
You won't be sorry in dealing with Greg. A big thumbs up!
I sent you a PM i dont have your email or know where to find it. If you want to just email me its nickschlemer2000@yahoo.com
thanks alot
Nick